CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. Global Terrorism Monitor
2. Political Risk Monitor
3. AML/CFT Monitor
4. Emerging Threat Monitor
5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor
6. Disaster Reduction Monitor
7. Recommended Reading
8. Asset Management Network News

1. Global Terrorism Monitor

The Global Terrorism Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. For subscription information, emailinfo@tamni.com.

--------------------------------------------------
GTM Africa
--------------------------------------------------
Chad launched border operations against Rally for Democracy (RCD) rebels and Sudan-government-backed militias earlier this month, soon after the defeat of an alleged coup attempt. This week, General Abakar Itno, a senior commander and nephew of President Deby, died of injuries received during a rebel raid.

Five bombings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killed one and injured 14 people. The explosions in the back of a minibus, a cafe, a guard post, an abattoir and a private home have been blamed on the government opposition and separatists, backed by Eritrea, but there have been no claims of responsibility.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has released three kidnapped oil workers unharmed. The two US and one UK citizens had been kidnapped in a group of nine on 18 February. The other six were freed after a week. The government says that no ransom was paid. MEND says they will no longer take hostages, but instead will concentrate on attacking oil installations.

Conflict in Sudan's Darfur region continues unabated. The International Organization for Migration reports that sustained violence has forced more than 50,000 people from their homes since the beginning of this year, joining more than 1.5 million already homeless. There are new reports of Sudanese refugees in Chad, forcibly conscripted and sent to training bases in Darfur. Most of the forced recruits were young men aged 15 to 35, but some were even younger.

In southern Sudan, Bahjat Abdulla, a UN refugee agency officer from Baghdad, was critically wounded on 15 March when two gunmen attacked a refugee compound in Yei. He died of his injuries last week. At the time of the attack a local guard was killed, and a second injured, who is now recovering.
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Americas
--------------------------------------------------
Colombia hosted a 3-day meeting of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE).Among the topics covered were the links between organized criminal enterprises and terrorism in Latin America.
http://www.cicte.oas.org/

The US National Intelligence Director has started posting documents captured in Iraq online at the Foreign Military Studies Office. They have been briefly reviewed by linguists but not fully translated from Arabic. The documents may not be authentic, and do not change what is known about the prewar situation in Iraq, but were made available when congressional Republicans insisted they be made available for public review.

The US Supreme Court has begun to hear a constitutional challenge to presidential authority to hold "enemy combatants" and try them in military tribunals established and responsive only to the executive. The case that raises these questions comes from Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who is challenging his indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay.

Asking whether Supreme Court Justice Scalia should recuse himself from Guantanamo cases, Newsweek reports that he gave his opinion at a meeting in Switzerland, that the detainees have no rights.
Newsweek article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12017271
Analysis and speech clips
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5304714

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) broad definition of terrorism is addressed in an article by Los Angeles Times writer Nicholas Riccardi, in "FBI Keeps Watch on Activists: Antiwar, other groups are monitored to curb violence, not because of ideology, agency says".
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/la-na-fbi27mar27,0,5815737.story

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on nine counts, including plotting to kill the president, and conspiracy. He confessed to these charges under alleged torture during his detention in Saudi Arabia, but the confession was allowed in the US court. He was not given a life sentence because no weapons were found and his actions hurt no one.
http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/abuali/index.html
http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/wfo032906.htm
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/cassel/20050307.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1742762,00.html

Former Assistant US Attorney Richard G. Convertino and Department of State Regional Security Officer Harry Raymond Smith III, were indicted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false declarations in the 2003 Koubriti terrorism trial , in which four defendants were charged with providing material support for terrorism and document fraud.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/March/06_crm_183.html

Zacarias Moussaoui's death penalty trial has gone to the jury, which will decide whether the death penalty is an admissible, setting the stage for a final penalty trial. Moussaoui had been arrested as the "20th hijacker", but further investigation showed no connection, and this case went forward based only on his failure to disclose information about al Qaeda. During the final stages of this trial, Moussaoui testified that he had been one of another team meant to hijack a third plane and target the White House, claims that contradicted both his own previous assertions and independent evidence.  

The US House Committee on Government Reform's Subcommittee on National Security, held hearings on "Setting Post-9/11 Investigative Priorities at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement". Witnesses reviewed the findings of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, "Better Management Practices Could Enhance DHS's Ability to Allocate Investigative Resources". Among the topics discussed were the continued lack of interagency cooperation and the dominance of border control resources that go to drugs, financial crimes and illegal immigration, compared to the small amount used for counterterrorism.
http://reform.house.gov/NSETIR/Hearings/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=41494

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs  Committee held hearings on "Neutralizing the Nuclear and Radiological Threat: Securing the Global Supply Chain". Testimony reiterated that there was no plan for homeland security in Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland and the Capital Region Homeland Security Strategic Plan has not been completed. Even the basic measure of establishing compatible radio communications for the area has not been taken.
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=335
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=336
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Asia Pacific
--------------------------------------------------
Joseph Terrence Thomas ("Jihad Jack") was sentenced to five years in prison for receiving money from al Qaeda. If he had been found guilty of being a sleeper agency he could have faced a 25-year sentence. He is the first Australian convicted under the country's new counterterrorism laws.

Indonesia's peace process with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is the topic of a new report from the International Crisis Group. "Aceh: Now for the Hard Part" looks at:
"Converging problems call for renewed leadership from Jakarta and for international donor vigilance to prevent any backsliding on the August 2005 peace deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM). Confidence in peace remains high, but a series of differences have arisen between the central government and the Acehnese. These include disagreement over the concept of self-government reflected in disputes over the draft law on Aceh's governance; efforts to divide the province; questions over who can run in local elections and when those elections take place; and the urgent employment needs of returning GAM members. Finally, since local elections seem to be delayed until late July or August, the European Union-led Aceh Monitoring Mission should postpone its scheduled June departure to ease fears of pre-election violence."
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4049

In Japan, Aum Shrinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara's attorneys missed a deadline to appeal his death sentence. They said the deadline was missed because he was mentally incapacitated and unable to communicate clearly. A court psychiatric review ruled instead that he was competent to stand trial. The Tokyo High Court has rejected the appeal, which will now be heard by an alternate panel of judges. The1995 sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway killed 12 and injured more then 5,000.

In the southern Philippines, a bomb at a multi-purpose shop in Jolo killed nine and injured 20. One person detained for questioning was released, and the attack now appears to have been tied to extortion, possibly involving Abu Sayyaf. Investigators subsequently reported that the original target was Jolo Cathedral.
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Europe
--------------------------------------------------
Rachid Ramda was sentenced in French court to ten years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist organisation, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and providing logistical support in connection with the 1995 Paris Metro bombings in which eight people were killed. The Algerian may also be tried for murder.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy held talks about proceeding with a peace plan for the Basque region, following separatist group ETA's declaration of a permanent ceasefire. The talks failed to bridge mutual distrust and Rajoy's opposition to negotiations with a terrorist group, refusal to consider any concessions, and continued legal actions against ETA.

Three days of violent protests in Istanbul, Turkey, culminated in a bombing near a bus stop that killed one and injured more than five. Responsibility is unclear, but the street violence had been triggered in the southeast Kurdish areas following the burial of 14 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members killed by Turkish security forces. In the demonstrations that followed, three Kurds were killed and over 200 injured. These are the worst riots in several years.

The UK Parliament's intelligence and security committee (ISC) inquiry into the 7/7 bombings will not be released until late April, but indications are that they have concluded that there was a failure of intelligence, but this was due to lack of resources rather than errors in judgment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4861528.stm
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence/

The British government wants to deport 17 Algerians on grounds of national security, but they have remained in detention pending completion of a memorandum of understanding between the two governments. Now four of the detainees have withdrawn their appeals, including one citing mental torture arising from the strict control order that was imposed.
--------------------------------------------------
GTM Middle East
--------------------------------------------------
In Gaza City, fighting broke out among Palestinian factions attending the funeral of Abu Yousef Abu ("Khalil") al-Quqa, a senior commander of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), who had been killed by an explosion. Israel denied involvement in the incident, and blame turned to the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Service, which was accused of collaborating with Israel. During the fighting, a PRC member and two bystanders were killed, and several others were injured.

Palestinians in Gaza for the first time fired a Katyusha-style rocket at Israel. An exploded rocket, that may have fallen during that assault or earlier, killed an Arab Israeli father and his teenage son. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, and says they own many more.

The US raid on a mosque complex in Baghdad that killed at least 16 people has further inflamed sectarian tensions in Iraq:
* On Monday, a suicide bomb inside the police recruitment center at a joint Iraqi-US military base killed at least 40 Iraqis and injured 30 near Mosul. 16 employees of Iraqi import/export firm Saeed were kidnapped in Baghdad. 16 members of the Saeed trading company were kidnapped.
* In Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi police found 14 bodies, apparently executed. Also, three Daewoo Electric Appliances shop employees and six people working at the Moussa Bin Nasser Exchange were kidnapped. An attack at another branch of the same company led to the abduction of 15 employees. In each of these kidnappings, equipment, cash, and papers were stolen. In Nasiriya, three civilians were killed in an explosion that took place outside the home of US-funded Radio Sawa correspondent Mohammed Nur, who was unhurt. In Haswa, police opened fire on an explosives-laden vehicle. They prevented it hitting a police station, but in the explosion, the two insurgents were killed and 11 police and a bystander were injured.
* On Wednesday, gunmen, some dressed in police uniforms and identifying themselves as Interior Ministry employees, stormed the al-Ibtikar Trade Contracting company in Baghdad. They lined up and shot 14 employees: eight died and six were injured.
* Thursday, gunmen ambushed an oil worker' minibus, killing eight as they left a Baiji refinery. In Basra, a female lawyer was shot and killed. One person was killed and 11 injured in roadside bombings in Baghdad. Two were killed and seven injured in a car bomb, and five injured in a suicide bomb. In Ramadi, three hospital workers were found executed, with a note accusing them of homosexuality.
* Saturday, a group calling itself the al-Rashideen Army claimed responsibility for shooting down a US military helicopter, killing both pilots.

Jill Carroll, a US reporter, was freed on 30 March after being held hostage for more than two months, just a week after three other Westerners were free. No explanation for the release was given, and she has now returned to the US.

Iraq's Displacement and Migration Ministry and the International Organization for Migration report that more than 30,000 Iraqis have been displaced, many by armed efforts by one sectarian group to clear the area of another, since the 22 February bombing of a Shiite shrine. The problem of displacement is growing across the country, as are temporary camps springing up to help the refugees.

In the first such incident this year, a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as an orthodox Jew killed himself and four Israelis inside a vehicle traveling near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim in the West Bank. The Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and a new Fatah faction called Kateb al-Shahid Chamuda both claimed responsibility. Israel, blaming the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the attack, retaliated with air strikes in Gaza and has tightened security around the Palestinian territories. This incident came after the Shin Bet security service reported details of two abortive Islamic Jihad suicide attempts, and was apparently a revenge attack in response to recent Fatah killings.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Saadat refused to recognize the authority of the Israeli military tribunal that plans to try him on charges that include ordering the assassination of a cabinet minister in 2001. He and four alleged accomplices had surrendered following the Israeli siege of their prison in Jericho. Refusing to participate in the hearing, he was not granted bail.

A Lebanese military court had sentenced local Fatah leader Sultan Abu al-Aynain to death in absentia in 1999. His death sentence for forming an armed gang and illegally possessing weapons was dropped after a brief retrial.

Charges against six Lebanese and one Syrian accused in membership of al Qaeda, planning to wage war in Iraq, were dropped after the Lebanese military prosecutor found insufficient evidence.

Saudi Arabia reports the arrest of 40 suspected al Qaeda members in several areas around the country.

Four Yemeni tribesmen from the al-Zaidi clan were sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping five Italian tourists in January. Two men from the al-Amiri clan were sentenced to five and ten years for abetting them. The kidnapping was meant to apply pressure for the release of jailed relatives, and follows changes in the penal code to discourage such kidnappings.
--------------------------------------------------
GTM South Asia
--------------------------------------------------
In Afghanistan's southwest province of Farah, a landmine claimed the lives of a Namibian man, his Afghan driver and two Afghan guards that worked for a US security company. Six Afghan soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb. In a third incident on Tuesday, two suspected suicide bombers died in an explosion in Kandahar. Clashes in Helmand on Wednesday left 32 Taleban, and one US and one Canadian soldier dead. A suspected suicide bombing in Kandahar on Thursday killed the attacker when his device exploded prematurely, injuring six civilians. An attack in Laghman province killed two officials and two bodyguards, while Taleban killed a policeman and his brother in Helmand. On Saturday, unknown gunmen killed Sayed Sadiq, speaker of Takhar province's provincial assembly. Sadiq, a strong ally of Karzai and opponent of the drugs trade, is the first lawmaker killed since Afghanistan's parliament was inaugurated.

India's Maoist rebels apologized for a landmine attack in Chattisgarh of last Friday that killed 14 civilians when their vehicle was mistaken for a police jeep. The rebels blamed intelligence failures and ordered its fighters to be more vigilant. This is their second apology this month for accidentally killing civilians.

In Gujarat Mustaq Ahmed Sheikh was sentenced to ten years in prison and fined for his main role in killing a Hindu man during 2002 religious riots. Eight others involved in the incident were jailed for 1.5 years. 25 people in this case were released for insufficient evidence.

Nepal's Maoist rebels attacked soldiers carrying high school examination question papers in the southern Sarlahi district. One soldier and one Maoist rebel were killed and two policemen were injured, one critically. Note this Human Rights Watch report expressing concern over the increased cost of civilian lives following the end of the Maoist's unilateral ceasefire.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/28/nepal13083.htm

In Pakistan's Balochistan province, hours after the local assembly voted to engage in peace talks, tribal militants are believed to have carried out explosions that blew up four electricity transmission towers. A technician was killed and a second seriously injured by a landmine when their team arrived to repair the damage, which cut power to a wide area. Tribal militants are also suspected in an explosion at a government dairy farm that killed two and injured ten.

In North Waziristan, tribal militants attacked a paramilitary police checkpoint on Wednesday night.  A woman and her son were killed in the heavily armed assault, and several other civilians were injured. In another attack, suspected Taleban launched a rocket assault on a military base, killing one soldier and injuring three.

In the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) capital city of Peshawar, the US shut its consulate following credible warnings of an attack, and the city went on high alert. Soon after, a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in a market, killing one policeman and injuring at least 16 others. High security may have forced repositioning the attack. Two days of factional violence, between supporters of rival clerics in the Khyber agency of NWFP, killed at least 25 people and injured 30 or more. Days later, Pakistani troops shelled a radio station operated by a Muslim cleric, putting the transmitter out of action and injuring five people.

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman Khalil, chief of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, was kidnapped, beaten, and dumped by unidentified gunmen in front of a mosque near Islamabad. He is in critical condition.

Sri Lanka's navy and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged fire off the eastern coast of Trincomalee, each accusing the other of aggression in an incident that resulted in no casualties. A fishing ban was reimposed after Tiger gun-runners allegedly blew up a naval vessel 25 March.

2. Political Risk Monitor

The Political Risk Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. For subscription information, email info@tamni.com.

--------------------------------------------------
PRM Africa
--------------------------------------------------
Gambian authorities have arrested 27 people, including former army officers and government officials, accused over last week's alleged coup plot.

In western Ivory Coast, UN peacekeepers have redeployed for the first time since violent anti-UN demonstrations in January.

An international furore that followed the disappearance of former Liberian President Charles Taylor from his home in exile in Nigeria was resolved after he was captured while trying to escape. Nigeria had invited Liberia to take Taylor, but had not detained him, and would not agree to Liberia's request to send Taylor directly to the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone. Instead, Nigeria repatriated Taylor to Liberia, where he was taken into UN custody. He has now been transferred to Sierra Leone, where he has been charged with war crimes. Now Sierra Leone has requested The Hague host Taylor's trial.
http://www.sc-sl.org/
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2003/060803.html#FeatureArticle

Mauritania has sold its first oil exports. One month after its Chinguetti offshore fields opened, 950,000 barrels have gone to Chinese oil company UNIPEC.

Nigeria's first census in 15 years ended late Monday night. Results are expected in early June.
http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=762

The Arab League agreed to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's request to pay for the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur once current funding runs out in October. However, the AU has agreed in principle to turn over the operation to the UN from September, which Bashir opposes.
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Americas
--------------------------------------------------
Last week, Argentines living near the River Uruguay lifted their blockade of border crossings that were imposed to protest proposed construction of two paper mills in Uruguay. The conflict over the balance between environment and employment is on hold for now. Both governments and Botnia, the Finnish company involved in the project, have agreed to stop work on the project pending an independent environmental study and agreement between Argentina and Uruguay.

Jamaica has sworn in its first female Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller.

Mexican President Fox has hosted a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Harper and US President Bush. The talks were dominated by the issue of immigration, as well as economic issues including the long-running disagreement over US tariffs on Canadian lumber imports.

Russia has questioned the translation of Pentagon documents that indicate that Russia passed US military intelligence to Saddam Hussein prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. US Secretary of State Rice has asked Russia to investigate the allegations contained in the http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/ipp.pdf

Secretary Rice, in a major foreign police speech in the UK, admitted tactical errors, but said that the strategic decisions were correct. Large demonstrations accompanied her visit to northwest England.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/63969.htm
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/63980.htm

The US Congress is attempting to navigate contentious immigration reforms that have generated large and growing protests among legal and illegal immigrants, as well as their supporters and opponents. Among the issues under consideration are criminal penalties for illegal immigrants and their employees, establishing a guest worker program, increasing high-tech visas, offering some form of amnesty, increasing enforcement and penalties, upgrading security systems, and building border fences.
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=63
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3161
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Asia Pacific
--------------------------------------------------
Most of the foreign athletes missing from the Commonwealth Games have returned or been granted bridging visas. 19 remain missing. There have been similar disappearances at previous games.   

Hours after Australia's new industrial reform laws came into force, Minister for Workplace Relations Kevin Andrews was defending union accusations of abuse, citing the dismissal and rehiring of workers on lower wages and casual labor employment terms. The "WorkChoices" legislation eliminated unfair dismissal laws.
http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights/news/1143603332_12116.html

Sydney Police Commissioner Ken Moroney plans to implement a mobile police unit to target gangs and street crime, following the shooting deaths of professional boxer Bassam Chami and his friend Ibrahim Assaad, characterized as a gang execution.

Indonesia's anger over Australia's grant of temporary visas to a group of Papuans is unabated. Australian Foreign Minister Downer said that Australia recognizes Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua, and values their cooperative efforts, but their immigration efforts are in line with Australian and international law and will not be bent to satisfy even an ally. Indonesia views the measure as support for separatists. The Islamic-leaning newspaper, Rakyat Merdeka (People's Freedom) published a cartoon in which Downer and Australian Prime Minister Howard were depicted as fornicating dingos wanting Papua.
http://www.rakyatmerdeka.co.id

Japan's opposition party leader, Seiji Maehara, will resign to take responsibility for a scandal over a false accusation that the son of a ruling party member was linked to a disgraced company.

Samoa's general elections have returned the ruling Human Rights Protection Party to power, in a performance that was better than expected.

Thailand voted today, three years earlier than planned, in an attempt by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to regain support and end growing criticism over his alleged corrupt activities. Results are being counted amid reports of violence and irregularities in the midst of an opposition boycott. The outcome and consequences are still uncertain.
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Europe
--------------------------------------------------
Belarus faces growing international protests and likely sanctions over recent elections that were found to be neither free nor fair, and the subsequent crackdown against opposition protesters. More than a thousand demonstrators and opposition leaders have been detained violently, most summarily tried and given no access to legal council or family. Several journalists and opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin are among those detained.

In France, labor protests that began as peaceful student demonstrations have grown increasingly violent over the past two weeks. Millions of workers took to the streets to protest labor reforms largely aimed at young workers. On what has become known as "Black Tuesday", a general strike turned into widespread riots. The deterioration did not sway Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin or the Constitutional Council, which has ruled the law is legal, paving the way for it to be signed and put into effect. Workers in Germany and the UK also took industrial action, but this remained peaceful.
http://www.spiegel.de/internatikonal/0,1518,408546,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/internatikonal/0,1518,408418,00.html

Georgian riot police ended a prisoner revolt in which seven inmates were killed. The circumstances are unclear.

Italy has granted asylum to Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who faced execution for converting from Islam to Christianity.

A Lithuanian court convicted Algimantas Dailide of persecuting and arresting two Poles and 12 Jews while he was a member of Nazi-backed security police in World War I, but the judge said that at 85 he presented no danger to society and was too old to serve in prison.

Poland's last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, has been charged with actions connected to the imposition of martial law in 1981, to end the threat presented by the rising popularity of the Solidarity trade union.

Poland has asked UNESCO to change the official name of Auschwitz-Birkenau to "Former Nazi German Concentration Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau", to remind the world that the death camp was built and run by Nazi Germany.

Alexander Koptsev was found guilty in Russian court of attempting to murder Jewish worshippers during a knife rampage at a Moscow synagogue in January that injured eight people. He was jailed for 13 years in what is believed to be an anti-Semitic attack.

The Spanish parliament approved by 189-154 votes, a charter for greater independence for Catalonia. Under this plan, which provides more local control over finances and the judiciary, the same measures can be made available to other Spanish regions within the constitution. Catalonia will vote on a final autonomy plan in June.

Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the outlawed Basque party Batasuna, will be granted bail set at EU 250,000, pending his trial for instigating violence during a strike called earlier this month to protest the death of two Batasuna members in jail. Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent ceasefire last week, and Otegi is likely to be a key negotiator in peace talks.

Ukraine's elections were praised as free and fair, but the democratic outcome gave the largest number of seats to the pro-Russian party of former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. His party garnered just under 30 percent of the vote, and is pursuing coalition talks. To ensure that the Orange Revolution is sustained, the pro-Western parties are also discussing a coalition. President Yuschenko's liberal Our Ukraine party was third with 15 percent of the vote compared to Yulia Timoshenko, the former Prime Minister with Yuschenko, and her party gained 22.4 percent.
http://www.osce.org/item/18498.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4852728.stm

The UK government reached a compromise agreement with the House of Lords regarding identity cards. It maintains the National Identity Register, a national identity database, but does not make getting a card mandatory until 2010.

The UK Law Lords unanimously dismissed an appeal by 20 anti-war activists who had been convicted of aggregated trespass when they attempted to prevent or delay military hardware leaving for Iraq, helping stopping the war. Their argument that the legality of the war should be considered was rejected when the court ruled that it had been a political decision.

Chinese gangmaster Lin Liang Ren was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter in connection with allowing a group of illegal Chinese shellfish harvesters to drown in rising tides.

Britain's Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said that low level offenses such as speeding will be dealt with through summary justice rather than the court system

In Northern Ireland, the Army has published a timetable for troop withdrawal and base closures
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Middle East
--------------------------------------------------
The Arab League's annual summit, originally scheduled for two days, was shortened to one, and many key leaders stayed away. They called for Arabs to assist Iraq and to support the Palestinian people.

Hamas leaders have won a vote of confidence in the Palestinian parliament and taken control of the government after being sworn in by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The new government says they look forward to peace talks with the international community, but they face serious diplomatic, security and economic problems, exacerbated by Israel's travel controls and refusal to release tax monies, and a US ban on official contact. Canada has become the first country to join an Israeli-led boycott of the Hamas government, freezing $7.3 million in Palestinian Authority funding.

The government includes: Prime Minister Ismail Haniya; Deputy PM and Education Minister Nasser al-Din al-Shair; Finance Minister Omar Abd al-Raziq; Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahhar; Interior Minister Said al-Siyam;  Justice Minister Ahmed al-Khalidi; Culture Minister Atallah Abu al-Sibah; Information Minister Youssef Rizqa; Health Minister Basim Naim; Religious Affairs Minister Nayif al-Rujub; Labor Minister Mohammed al-Barghouti; and Women's Affair Minister Mariam Salih.

Note this Amnesty International report on the condition of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/369-270306-news-eng

Iraq, warning the US not to interfere, has continued negotiations on forming a coalition government, which has still not formed three months after the elections.

Iraq's interior minister Bayan Jabr called a US raid on a mosque complex "an unjustified and flagrant attack". US denials of serious offenses did nothing to ease the growing political pressure generated by the event, in which at least 16 people were killed. The US announced an inquiry, but Iraq has insisted on a full, independent investigation that did not include US military representatives.

In Israel, a new party will lead a new coalition government to implement new centrist policies, following elections on Tuesday. Kadima, only formed a few months ago, will be largest party in Knesset, winning 29 seats. Other results: Labor 20, Shas 12, Yisrael Beiteinu 11, Likud 12, National Union-National Religious Party 9, Gil (pensioners) 7, United Torah Judaism 6, Meretz 5, Ra'am Ta'al 3, Hadash 3, and Balad 3. The members of this 17th Knesset will be sworn in on April 17. Negotiations to form a government are under way.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern+History/Historic+Events/Elections+in+Israel+

Lebanon's Justice Minister Charles Rizk says that the UN Security Council will approve an international tribunal to try those accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The tribunal would be similar to that established for Sierra Leone.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=23297
--------------------------------------------------
PRM South Asia
--------------------------------------------------
Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who faced possible execution for converting from Islam to Christianity, was freed last Monday when he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Parliament had insisted he remain in the country pending his mental examination, but instead he was taken to Italy, where he has been granted asylum. Note this article, "Christians in Afghanistan: A Community of Faith and Fear".
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,408781,00.html

Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, chief of staff of the armed forces, has offered to form a commando unit under him that is tasked to eliminate the Taleban and al Qaeda.

Bangladesh police used tear gas to disperse Awami League opposition party protesters campaigning for the resignation of the current government and for electoral reform. During the clashes at least 100 people were injured.

Bihar is the most lawless state in India, with a murder every two hours. Desperate to reduce violent crime, it has put together a financial incentive program to pay criminals to surrender weapons and turn themselves in. Criminals who surrender are given a monthly subsidy, but still face legal proceedings as appropriate.

Pakistan's air force, for the first time, has inducted four women as pilots.

Sri Lanka's local government elections gave President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) 225 of 266 seats, with turnout of 55 percent. Voting in Tamil-dominated areas was postponed, and there were sporadic incidents of violence.
http://www.slelections.gov.lk/

The Supreme Court has awarded President Rajapakse $5,000 damages. Opposition member of parliament Kabir Kasheem and two police officers will pay the bulk of this after a complaint that tsunami donations had been siphoned off into private accounts associated with Rajapakse was found a breach of his rights.